Mundra Port, India’s biggest commercial port run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), signed an agreement on Monday with Montreal Port Authority (MPA) seeking to cooperate in marketing and business development while sharing information on marine operations and industry best practices such as use of technology as its eyes new markets overseas to drive growth.

APSEZ runs 10 ports/facilities in India while the port of Montreal is Canada’s second largest port and a diversified transshipment hub having its own rail network directly dockside which is connected by two rail operators – Canadian National and Canadian Pacific.

The cooperation agreement was signed by members of MPA on a trade visit to India in the presence of Christine St-Pierre, the Quebec Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie region. It comes days before the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India.

For MPA, the agreement will help tap into one of the largest emerging markets in the world, growing at over 7 per cent, stoking demand for infrastructure and products such as agro-foods, consumer goods, construction materials and energy.

Mundra Port will benefit from the development of new markets in North America and Canada. Canada is a big supplier of wood, paper pulp and uranium.

Between 2016 and 2017, trade between India and the Port of Montreal grew by 40 per cent and a large portion of this goods traffic was transited through Mediterranean transshipment ports. The cooperation agreement between Mundra Port and Montreal Port Authority (MPA) also benefits from similar pacts signed between APSEZ and the Port of Antwerp and between MPA and Port of Antwerp.

Both Antwerp and Montreal are river ports. Montreal is farther from the ocean than Antwerp is, but the advantage is that Montreal could be the ideal gateway for Indian goods bound for Eastern Canada given its location in the heart of consumption centres in Quebec and Ontario and major markets in US mid-west that are well connected by rail services run by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, Sandeep Mehta, President of APSEZ, told BusinessLine after signing the cooperation agreement with MPA.

“As much as 15 per cent of the cargo going from India to Europe is passing through Antwerp Port, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has a home terminal there; MSC also has a home terminal in Montreal,” Mehta said. MSC, the world’s second biggest container line, also runs a terminal in Mundra port in joint venture with APSEZ.

Working together

“We are also looking at opportunities to work together such as bringing Canadian investors to Mundra where we have a special economic zone (SEZ); so, they will introduce their potential customers to us and vice versa and see how they can work together,” Mehta added.

“This cooperation agreement with Mundra Port strengthens our presence in India and showcases the Port of Montreal’s advantages as a strategic gateway of choice for goods destined for the North American market,” said Tony Boemi, Vice-President, Growth and Development at Montreal Port Authority.

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